Franz Schubert’s Third Symphony is notably shorter than his first two symphonies. But it also foreshadows ideas that would expand the scale of the symphony. The rushing scale passage of the first movement’s slow introduction is turned into the second theme of the Allegro, contrary to the standard practice of making the Allegro contrast with the introduction by not having them share any musical elements.
Schubert’s Third has no real slow movement. Instead, there is a lightly scored (without trumpets and timpani). It has an ambling principal section and a middle section with a jaunty little clarinet tune.
The third movement is marked “Menuetto,” but the name is rooted more in tradition than reality. The minuet had had a long life — about 150 years — but it was dying. In his late works, Haydn liked to spice his minuets with odd accents that would have flummoxed any dancer. Schubert does the same here, with accented upbeats: the phrases all begin on the third beat, not the first. The middle section, scored for solo oboe and bassoon, and strings without cellos, is like a Ländler, or even a waltz, than a minuet.
The finale, in the rhythm of the tarantella, is marked “presto vivace”. The sheer fleetness of the themes creates enormous momentum, but Schubert adds a few sly pauses to keep us guessing. The movement owes much to the frenetic drive of comic opera overtures.
Here is the Southwest Radio Symphony Orchestra to play this wonderful music for you:
